Sermons for the Month
Living As Transfigured Believers
DATE: February 6th, 2005
SERVICE: The Transfiguration of our Lord
TEXT: Matthew 17:1-9“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
The children here may be glad to hear that I finally decided to read the first Harry Potter book. It seems that I'm always a few years behind everyone when it comes to doing what's "popular". Who would have thought that while listening to the list of Harry's classes at Wizard school I would hear a word that I've always associated with scripture?
It seems that Harry must learn the fine art of transfiguration, a word that is in today's Gospel lesson. In Harry Potter's case, transfiguration involves waving a wand and transforming something from one form into another. You know - a snake into a fish or a monster into a ballerina - that sort of transfiguration.
That, of course, is a skill that we all have dreamed of possessing. How often have I wished for a wand to wave to make the challenges of life disappear, or better yet, transform them into something positive? We all wish we could join Harry in his Transfiguration classes.
I'll admit that I have not gotten far enough in the book to discover what good learning transfiguration does Harry Potter. But, I can talk a bit about what the gift of transfiguration meant for Jesus, for those who witnessed it, and even for we who read about it. We, who without magic wands to wave, must make due with the power of God at work among us.
We read that Jesus took Peter, James and John with him to a mountaintop and there our Lord was transfigured. I always find it so interesting that the Greek word that we translate "transfigured" is the one from which we get the word metamorphosis. You've heard that word in science class, no doubt, it's the one we use to describe the change that occurs when a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.
In his metamorphosis, Jesus is infused with light. His face shines like the sun and his clothes become dazzling white. This is what happens to a person who is in the presence of God; no doubt the disciples recall how after his encounter with God Moses face shone so brightly that he had to wear a veil over his face. This is clue number one to Peter, James and John that something significant is happening right in front of them.
If that wasn't enough, Moses and Elijah show up for a conference with Jesus; they are religious heroes - the most important people of Jewish history. Then, as if anything else was needed, the voice of God thunders from the heavens - or at least that's how I imagine it - and Jesus is once again confirmed as the beloved one, the one who pleases God, the one who has something important to say. "Listen to him!" God commands.
Let's pause for a minute here to consider what this event meant to Jesus. For him, it was a moment for confirmation, a time for him to bask in his true light-infused nature and to receive encouragement and support before he returned to human form and began his journey toward suffering and death.
And what about the disciples who were with him? They received a glimpse of the power of God at work in their teacher's life. Still, it seems that they struggled to internalize what they had witnessed as the reality of the crucifixion drew near. Perhaps that's why God speaks a word directly to them. "Listen to him." Listen to Jesus.
Now, I have to tell you, there are many ways that scholars have interpreted this command from God. There are books that say this phrase was included because the early church needed to accept Jesus as the authority over the Old Testament law. Other writers site our need to use his words to sort out doctrinal and ethical dilemmas.
All of that is valid. But, this week it was the next words that Jesus spoke in this very text that seemed to be the ones to which we should listen, given our lack of magic wands in a scary world.
The disciples fell on the ground, overwhelmed by fear, and then notice this next phrase, "Jesus came and touched them saying, "Get up and do not be afraid." Did you hear it? "Get up and do not be afraid." Is that a reassurance you have needed to hear in your life? "Get up and do not be afraid," because the power of God that transformed Jesus is still at work among us.
This is a loving touch, a reassuring touch, I'm convinced. I can imagine Jesus going to each disciple; he kneels down and places his hand on their backs. You know what that feels like; it's comforting. This is a touch that says, "You may not have the power to transform the scary things in life, but I do." Do not be afraid, Jesus says, because the metamorphosis that has touched me is transferable to you.
Now, what does that mean exactly? I know what we would like it to mean in the story of our lives - we would like it to mean that the struggles are written out and that the happy ending, at least as we view it, is as close as the next page. And, sometimes by the power of God, the expected challenging plot line changes and we rejoice.
But we know that does not always happen. All we have to do is pick up the newspaper or listen to the news or realize what is going on in the lives of those around us to know that at least on the surface the story does not always have a happy ending.
For some reason I saved a section of the newspaper for January 27. I put it in my brief case and pulled it out as I wrote this sermon remembering that I had saved it as an example of the prevalence of the power of sin. By that I do not mean "bad actions" necessarily, I mean sin in the larger sense of the imperfection that marks the world and creates suffering.
People avoid newspaper because of the reality they present to us - on one day on one page I read that 11 people died in a train accident because someone left his SUV on the track in an aborted suicide attempt. There was a report of 37 US service members dying in a single day in Iraq and of a local solider losing her life in training when her parachute did not open. I'm sure you do not want me to go on. In fact, you may be thinking, "I don't subscribe to the newspaper because I don't want to hear this, and I certainly don't expect to hear it in church." We want the magic wand to be waved and we want it all to disappear.
Instead, Jesus comes to us, touches us, and says, "Do not be afraid." His own metamorphosis on that mountain prepared him for the suffering of the days to come, and he promises to be with us. Listen to him.
We too will experience transfiguration. Please notice that I did not say that our challenges would always be transfigured, as if we waved a magic wand and they disappeared. But we will be metamorphosed and given the ability to walk whatever road is set before us, facing life's imperfections and even finding joy and peace along the way. And, ultimately, we will be a part of the perfect Kingdom of God.
Until then, there are no magic wands. Instead there is the power of God that was revealed on that mountain and has been transmitted to us as we are transfigured into the people we will be - from caterpillars to butterflies - by the grace of God. AMEN